Exploring Past Life Regression

William James once said: “The unconscious is the greatest discovery of the 20th century.” Now it’s the 21st century, and we are just beginning to tap into the potential of the human mind to create, transform and heal. We’re also using this vast resource to gain a much broader conception of ourselves, both individually and as a human race. Past-life regression can provide one method to more clearly understand ourselves by discovering the circumstances of some of our other lives. Very often, these lives tend to run an all-too-familiar story.

“We remember past lives in order to forget them,” says Roger Woolger, Jungian psychologist and past-life therapist. He suggests that our past lives are not in the deep crevices of our minds, but rather, are just below the surface. In fact, most of us are simply repeating mental and emotional dramas that have roots in former lives, replaying thought and behavior patterns in the form of anger, jealousies, various fears, ego issues, etc., until we resolve them and move ahead to other lessons. These repeating patterns can be thought of as karma or unfinished business of the soul. A related theory suggests that we have several different layers of energy bodies surrounding us; a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual energy body. Heavy, dense thought form energy from past lives can remain stuck in any or all of these energy bodies, and hence we may experience a repeating mental, emotional or physical program in our present life. Past-life therapy is one way to release and heal this unwanted energy. Consequently, energy shifts occur and present-life problems or issues can vanish. This is a brief synopsis of past life therapy.

After a past-life session, a common question arises: “What exactly are these images that come to mind during a past-life regression?” Whether one interprets them as symbolic creations of the subconscious, or as real past live images, positive therapeutic results occur either way. There are dozens of instances, however, in which researchers have verified trivial personal information such as nicknames and addresses obtained during a past-life regression. One convincing case involves Robert Snow, a police detective for 36 years for the Indianapolis Police Department. Following a dare from a friend, he did a past-life regression and experienced images of himself as an undistinguished 18th-century artist. However, as an extreme skeptic, he believed in neither past lives nor accurate hypnotic recall. Determined to prove that the details he obtained in the regression were simply products of his own imagination, he began an investigation and described the outcome in his book, Looking for Carroll Beckwith. Following the regression, he listed 28 pieces of information that he obtained in his past-life image regarding the life of the unknown artist, including his name of Carroll Beckwith. He recorded such details as various locations of residence, his wife’s hobbies, death circumstances of himself and his mother, and also motivation and details about specific paintings. After considerable research, Snow was surprised to learn that an artist named Carroll Beckwith had indeed lived in the 18th-century, and had happened to keep a lifelong diary which was stored in the basement archives of the National Academy of Design in New York City. While reading the diary, Snow astounded himself by verifying 27 of the 28 items of data obtained in the regression. This case is one of a multitude which offer strong evidence in support of reincarnation.

Through past-life regression and therapy, we not only gain a wider grasp of ourselves as beings of consciousness and energy that can never be extinguished, we also attain a larger understanding of what we’re doing here as individuals and as a human race. Many see us as living our lives, learning lessons, while slowly working towards a stronger connection with our own Source from which we all came and will once again reunite; trying to merge closer with this Source of pure love and bliss within ourselves while continuing to struggle here in this earth realm of relativity.